Overview
- Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families used 2024 American Community Survey data to show the uninsured rate for children under 6 climbed from 4.3% in 2022 to 5.3% in 2024, about 220,000 more uninsured young children.
- Texas saw the largest increase, with 10.8% of children under 6 uninsured in 2024 compared with 7.9% in 2022, an increase equal to more than 73,000 additional uninsured kids.
- Researchers and KFF point to the post‑pandemic Medicaid “unwinding” as the main cause, noting that more than 2 million Texans lost Medicaid during that process and roughly 1.7 million of those losses were for procedural issues like missing or incomplete paperwork.
- State choices shaped outcomes: some states such as North Carolina and Kentucky slowed disenrollments, sought 1115 waivers, or expanded Medicaid to protect children’s coverage, while large losses were concentrated in Texas, Georgia and Florida.
- Advocates warn many uninsured young children are likely still eligible but not enrolled, which risks gaps in care during critical early years and has prompted calls for administrative fixes, outreach, and policy changes to reverse the trend.